KEWROCK Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Hi Guys. I'm sure this has been asked before. searches come up with old threads with discontinued parts. I'm looking for rebuild kits for my CX40s. I remember a guy on ebay was selling upgraded white inner handles and gold circuit boards. Best electronics has a gold board updated this year, but I can't find anything on the handle. That website is crazy, it's very hard to navigate, and feel like you've seen everything. Old info mixed in with new info different colors and fonts with no rhime or reason. I gives me a bit of a headache. Also, I remember seeing a website last year of a seller that had top quality whole repros of of the original design. With the white inner yoke, dome contacts and so on. Not the Legacy/Syzegy or the really crappy retrobit designs Help? Thanks if you can.. Hey, any updates on the concerto Cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Call Best and order their gold kit . It comes with the pcb and white inner handle . He did raise the prices on the kits however but nothing compares to these kits . Just make sure to buy an orange fire button when you order the kit . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEWROCK Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Call Best and order their gold kit . It comes with the pcb and white inner handle . He did raise the prices on the kits however but nothing compares to these kits . Just make sure to buy an orange fire button when you order the kit . Thanx. Why do I have to order a fire button? Is there a better one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 No , on their page talking about the gold kits it explains how the buttons can get worn down a bit . Best charges 1.50 for a new fire button so it is worth picking one up just in case yours is wore down . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I agree, I not only ordered new fire buttons but new springs as well as over time the originals can become harder and less flexible or at times they may even do 1 of 2 things, either compress and lose their ability to snap back out and then the fire button stays depressed, or as I said before they can corrode and become harder to press down in which case they can also snap which has happened to me before.Myself recently I have come into a supply of all original replacement joystick cables which need no soldering, the wires have all the connectors needed to just slip right on. Found someone who was selling all NOS Atari cables so I bought every one they had and yes they are all NOS: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEWROCK Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 Best got back to me. He still has gold boards, but has been out of the inner handles for years. That doesn't help me. I have three sticks with broken rings. He's out of paddles too. I thought I got lucky today. I was at a Kiwanis Club thrift sale today. I found an Atari 4-switch unit with two joysticks, set of paddles and a power pack for $30. I have been looking for a set of paddles on ebay for a while now. Everything was filthy looking, but I took the gamble. Well, both Joystics suffer from the broken rings. The paddles worked fine, and the unit itself was all oxidized inside. It must have been left outdoors for a while. It had dried out weed vines inside of it. I cleaned it all up with plastic safe dielectric solvent, lubed all the switches and defunkified the case. I'll reassembe it tomorrow night and test it. Getting back to the Joysticks. Does anyone now where I can get some inner handles???? This part is ripe for a quality reproduction. And any word on the Concerto Cartridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Brad doesn't stock the ORIGINAL inner handles anymore because they had a solid ring all the way around, what he does have are the upgraded ones with the stress reducing separation in them, they are included with the CX-40 rebuild kit listed below: Rebuild Kit with Atari CX40 Handle and Best Gold CX40 PCB Board CB101211UG $16.95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 That is the page with the rebuild kits http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/joystick.htm#PCB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Best got back to me. He still has gold boards, but has been out of the inner handles for years. That doesn't help me. I have three sticks with broken rings. He's out of paddles too. I thought I got lucky today. I was at a Kiwanis Club thrift sale today. I found an Atari 4-switch unit with two joysticks, set of paddles and a power pack for $30. I have been looking for a set of paddles on ebay for a while now. Everything was filthy looking, but I took the gamble. Well, both Joystics suffer from the broken rings. The paddles worked fine, and the unit itself was all oxidized inside. It must have been left outdoors for a while. It had dried out weed vines inside of it. I cleaned it all up with plastic safe dielectric solvent, lubed all the switches and defunkified the case. I'll reassembe it tomorrow night and test it. Getting back to the Joysticks. Does anyone now where I can get some inner handles???? This part is ripe for a quality reproduction. And any word on the Concerto Cartridge? He has nos rebuilt inner handles that are stronger than the originals . You have to ask for the gold kit . I just bought a gold kit about 3 months ago . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEWROCK Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) This was the response I received from Best. "Q" is a partial quote from my question. "A" is his response. It seems to me like he's saying he's out of the handles. Like his website, he seems a little hard to decipher. I'm going to call him tomorrow at his number listed on his site. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your E-Mail dated 08-24-15 Rocco. Q. I am looking for CX40 rebuild kits. Inner handle and board. I now there are upgraded boards. A. No problem Rocco, in stock. Q. The atari forums say your gold ones are the best. A. Yes they turn an old Atari CX40 Joystick that fails all of the time, into a lifetime CX40 Joystick Rocco. Q. But the white inner handle, are there any upgrades for that A. Sold out them about 4 to 5 years ago Rocco. Q. I once saw a part on eBay that claimed to have a better design with stress relief built into the ring where they always crack. A. That was one of the final upgrades Atari Engineering did t the CX40 old handle design. It was a good upgrade and helped extend the life of a normal CX40 with the old fails all of the time original CX40 PCB board. But the Best all Gold 2005 design (now 3rd Generation made) CX40 is a game changer Rocco. The old original Atri designed CX40 PCB was always a problem. As it started to fail early, Atari users would start to put more pressure on the center white CX40 Handle. The more the old CX40 PCB board would fail the more pressure was applied to the inner white CX40 handle until it failed. For more information on the Best CX40 all gold PCB board, click on this Best URL: http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/joystick.htm#PCB So basically it does not matter which version CX40 handle you use any more Rocco. Q. I also need: an RF composite upgrade and paddles. A. The Best 6 switch Atari 2600 CV Upgrade kits are in stock Rocco. On the CX30 paddles we are out of stock of the upgraded versions and the CX30 Super Pots at this time. Edited August 31, 2015 by KEWROCK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEWROCK Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 (edited) After calling and speaking to Brad, my parts came today. It's the gold board and regular inner handle. No more upgraded ones with the stress relief. It's a very nice board with a very positive click. He said those upgraded handles were original atari old stock, last revision, not many made. I'm surprised nobody has made reproduction top quality handles. To spend all that time and effort on many revisions and upgrades on the PCB board. The weakest link is still the inner handle, and when it breaks, the controller is unusable. When the original PCB fails, it can be fixed by bending and relocating the domes and cleaning the contacts. Edited September 3, 2015 by KEWROCK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 You can't "relocate" the domes, they have to stay in the designated places on the board traces. The wear and tear of the original PCB's that Atari made has been minimized with the Best Electronics GOLD boards, in fact Brad himself has assured me that the new boards will last a lifetime. Also which version of the inner handle do you have? Here are the 2 side by side: The one on the left is the original handle, the one on the right is the one made later Which one is the one you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Sorry to hear Brad raise the price on his Gold kits. But, I love them. They really make a difference. My upgraded CX-40 is my fav joystick, and I have the all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEWROCK Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Ummmm you can't "relocate" the domes, they have to stay in the designated places on the board traces. The wear and tear of the original PCB's that Atari made has been minimized with the Best Electronics GOLD boards, in fact Brad himself has assured me that the new boards will last a lifetime. Also which version of the inner handle do you have? Here are the 2 side by side: CX40HANDLE.jpg The one on the left is the original handle, the one on the right is the one made later Which one is the one you have? A) When I said "relocate", I should have said reposition. As in: When the domes gradually slide out of proper location under the tape. Sorry for using a less precise term. (but I think you knew exactly what I meant) B) I got the old ones on the left, I WANTED the ones on the right. As I previously stated, Brad told me he was out of the LAST ORIGINAL ATARI REVISION (one one the right). C) Please don't start your responses with "Ummm". It's obnoxious. I'm an adult, and I feel like I'm talking to petulant 12-year old girl. I can actually see your eyes rolling when I read it. And to top it all off you added nothing to the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I actually have a thread of my own on here, 2 actually where I rebult 2 complete Atari consoles, 1 6-switch and also a 4-switch, one in 2002 and one in 2010, several years apart but the end results are outstanding. And I am getting ready to do a rebuild on several sets of joysticks as well. At least I have several pairs of the Atari branded joystick cables to do the job right. The reason I would word it that way is simply this. When I got my initial sticks the boards, inner handles, the springs and even the joystick boots were so BAD that I just elected to replace everything including the cables because with MY luck I would replace only the WORN part and something ELSE would go bad. Replace the board and the cable or the handle goes bad, replace the fire button and the spring goes bad and so on, so by me just replacing everything in one shot this covers all angles, not necessarily saying that you yourself should do this but in recent years with Atari stuff, I have had a run of dumb luck so I do it that way now lol. And I took out the offending "Ummmm" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEWROCK Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Cool. If you want a really good firing spring. try to find the the pyramid shaped one. I don't know exactly where I got it from. It either came out of a vintage Gemini or one of those cheap modern retrobit sticks they sell on Ebay. I don't now what makes it work so much better than the atari straight springs, but it does. I rebuilt two. one with an atari spring, one with the other. It seems to me, a big difference. I would have really liked to get one of those upgraded handles though. Oh well. maybe eventually somebody will repro them. I also have another thread, trying to get a better picture. I did a composite job. It made no difference. And now, reading through the threads. It seems composite is really just for convenience, and not much of an upgrade. It definitely isn't worth 2 hours of my time. I'm now looking into s-video. I would like to get a decent picture so I can get an Harmony cart. But if the picture I'm getting is as good as it gets, I'll stick with emulation. To be honest, I really don't see any difference in emulation. than real hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Cool. If you want a really good firing spring. try to find the the pyramid shaped one. I don't know exactly where I got it from. It either came out of a vintage Gemini or one of those cheap modern retrobit sticks they sell on Ebay. I don't now what makes it work so much better than the atari straight springs, but it does. I rebuilt two. one with an atari spring, one with the other. It seems to me, a big difference. I would have really liked to get one of those upgraded handles though. Oh well. maybe eventually somebody will repro them. I also have another thread, trying to get a better picture. I did a composite job. It made no difference. And now, reading through the threads. It seems composite is really just for convenience, and not much of an upgrade. It definitely isn't worth 2 hours of my time. I'm now looking into s-video. I would like to get a decent picture so I can get an Harmony cart. But if the picture I'm getting is as good as it gets, I'll stick with emulation. To be honest, I really don't see any difference in emulation. than real hardware. I myself just invested in a CRT television, true that LED and LCD do have their advantages such as being lightweight and more portable, but the downside is, by being backlit the blacks are more like greys, like a charcoal grey or the like. A CRT gives you a truer black plus greater color depth that looks less painted. Like I said, this isn't necessarily for everyone it is just my persomal preference and a scant few may actually agree with me on this. I think even using a CRT I only ever run into ONE problem unrelated to the TV or the 2600 itself, and that is of all the games I DO have......which one do I play FIRST Oh and as an afterthought I DO use the regular Atari branded springs, I just give them a slight bit of a stretch so the fire button sits a LITTLE higher and the bottom lip of it is more flush with the rim of the fire button hole edge inside the stick, this coupled with the new Gold boards from best adds to the responsiveness and I like that they are "clicky" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 This is a joystick build I did from the ground uphttps://www.facebook.com/RichardLGriffithJr/media_set?set=a.941977179174448.1073741856.100000865239494&type=3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEWROCK Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) All new. never played by human hands....Nice. The other day I bought a boxed stick on ebay. It was in the last packaging atari used, silver with the red band across it. The seller assured me it was unused, and tht's how he had it listed "Vintage, Never Used". He had (0) feedback. I figured I'd take a gamble, being that Ebay now issues refunds practically no questions asked. I'm hoping it's at least the controller that belongs in the box, and it has the revised inner stick. It was only $24 with the shipping. If it's not what he says it is, I'll get a refund anyway. How do you start an Ebay business on zero feedback? For the first 250 items or so, you'll have low bidding resulting in low sale prices, or you have to give your stuff away on BuyItNow. We started an Amazon businss last year. Feedback really didn't apply to us, we went the FBA route. Almost anytime we get a bad feedback Amazon will reverse it, because they handle ordering, shipping and customer service. They also inspect our items before they're entered to inventory. 9 times out of 10, our poor FB is a postal problem, customer didn't read discripton, ordered wrong item and is pissed. or is trying to scam something. Edited September 5, 2015 by KEWROCK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 The way I would do it is build up feedback first as a buyer, and use THAT feedback as a stepping stone so to speak, because if people look at your feedback as a buyer, see that you paid on time and gave favorable reviews to other sellers whose sales, service and product were exemplary, the chances are that they will in turn conclude that you would be equally proficient as a seller and as reliable, that's just my take on things. I am a frequent Ebay buyer and I have never had any difficulties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Also notice Kewrock, I used the newer inner handles with the stress relief for the build as until recently I had a few left over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 can anyone tell me the measurements of the white plastic cx40 handle piece? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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